A couple of 14-year-old computer
whizzes have the Bank of Montreal upgrading its
security after the teens hacked an ATM machine.
Freshmaza
Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon, both Grade 9
students, found an old ATM operators manual
online that showed how to get into the machine's
operator mode.
On Wednesday over their lunch hour, they went to
the BMO's ATM at the Safeway on Grant Avenue
to see if they could get into the system.
"We thought it would be fun to try it, but we were
not expecting it to work," Hewlett said. "When it
did, it asked for a password."
Hewlett and Turon were even more shocked when
their first random guess at the six-digit password
worked. They used a common default password.
The boys then immediately went to the BMO
Charleswood Centre branch on Grant Avenue to
notify them.
When they told staff about a security problem
with an ATM, they assumed one of their PIN
numbers had been stolen, Hewlett said.
"I said, 'No, no, no. We hacked your ATM. We got
into the operator mode'," Hewlett said. "He said
that wasn't really possible and we don't have any
proof that we did it.
"I asked them, 'Is it alright for us to get proof?'
"He said, 'Yeah, sure, but you'll never be able to
get anything out of it.'
"So we both went back to the ATM and I got into
the operator mode again. Then I started printing
off documentation like how much money is
currently in the machine, how many withdrawals
have happened that day, how much it's made off
surcharges.
"Then I found a way to change the surcharge
amount, so I changed the surcharge amount to
one cent."
As further proof, Hewlett playfully changed the
ATM's greeting from "Welcome to the BMO ATM"
to "Go away. This ATM has been hacked."
They returned to BMO with six printed
documents. This time, staff took them seriously.
"They brought the branch manager out to talk to
us," he said. "He was quite concerned and said
he would have to contact head security."
Hewlett and Turon had a concern of their own --
they were late for school. So Turon asked for a
note on BMO letterhead explaining their tardiness.
His request was granted by the bank's financial
services co-ordinator.
"Please excuse Mr. Caleb Turon and Matthew
Hewlett for being late during their lunch hour due
to assisting BMO with security," the note began.
Not surprisingly, the note raised eyebrows when it
was presented at the school.
"The secretary read it over and asked, 'What kind
of security were you assisting them with?'"
Hewlett said.
In an e-mail statement Friday, Ralph Marranca,
BMO's director of media relations, said they were
aware of the incident and have taken steps to
block unauthorized access.
"Customer information and accounts and the
contents of the ATM were never at risk and are
secure," he said.
Matthew's father, Brad Hewlett, said he and his
wife are proud of their son's remarkable skills, but
sometimes they have to act as his moral
compass. Matthew has endured serious health
issues since an early age and had a double liver
transplant three years ago, but it hasn't slowed
him down, Brad said.
"He's self-taught and into more than just
computers -- it's physics and chemistry,
everything," he said.
"He presented at the University of Manitoba last
year for a program that he wrote that sort of goes
down the path for artificial intelligence. The first
two people judging didn't have a clue what he
was talking about. The third was a software
engineer and the question she kept asking was,
'Did you get any help with this?'
"And he sure didn't get it from me."
Top 100 Songs: webmusic
whizzes have the Bank of Montreal upgrading its
security after the teens hacked an ATM machine.
Freshmaza
Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon, both Grade 9
students, found an old ATM operators manual
online that showed how to get into the machine's
operator mode.
On Wednesday over their lunch hour, they went to
the BMO's ATM at the Safeway on Grant Avenue
to see if they could get into the system.
"We thought it would be fun to try it, but we were
not expecting it to work," Hewlett said. "When it
did, it asked for a password."
Hewlett and Turon were even more shocked when
their first random guess at the six-digit password
worked. They used a common default password.
The boys then immediately went to the BMO
Charleswood Centre branch on Grant Avenue to
notify them.
When they told staff about a security problem
with an ATM, they assumed one of their PIN
numbers had been stolen, Hewlett said.
"I said, 'No, no, no. We hacked your ATM. We got
into the operator mode'," Hewlett said. "He said
that wasn't really possible and we don't have any
proof that we did it.
"I asked them, 'Is it alright for us to get proof?'
"He said, 'Yeah, sure, but you'll never be able to
get anything out of it.'
"So we both went back to the ATM and I got into
the operator mode again. Then I started printing
off documentation like how much money is
currently in the machine, how many withdrawals
have happened that day, how much it's made off
surcharges.
"Then I found a way to change the surcharge
amount, so I changed the surcharge amount to
one cent."
As further proof, Hewlett playfully changed the
ATM's greeting from "Welcome to the BMO ATM"
to "Go away. This ATM has been hacked."
They returned to BMO with six printed
documents. This time, staff took them seriously.
"They brought the branch manager out to talk to
us," he said. "He was quite concerned and said
he would have to contact head security."
Hewlett and Turon had a concern of their own --
they were late for school. So Turon asked for a
note on BMO letterhead explaining their tardiness.
His request was granted by the bank's financial
services co-ordinator.
"Please excuse Mr. Caleb Turon and Matthew
Hewlett for being late during their lunch hour due
to assisting BMO with security," the note began.
Not surprisingly, the note raised eyebrows when it
was presented at the school.
"The secretary read it over and asked, 'What kind
of security were you assisting them with?'"
Hewlett said.
In an e-mail statement Friday, Ralph Marranca,
BMO's director of media relations, said they were
aware of the incident and have taken steps to
block unauthorized access.
"Customer information and accounts and the
contents of the ATM were never at risk and are
secure," he said.
Matthew's father, Brad Hewlett, said he and his
wife are proud of their son's remarkable skills, but
sometimes they have to act as his moral
compass. Matthew has endured serious health
issues since an early age and had a double liver
transplant three years ago, but it hasn't slowed
him down, Brad said.
"He's self-taught and into more than just
computers -- it's physics and chemistry,
everything," he said.
"He presented at the University of Manitoba last
year for a program that he wrote that sort of goes
down the path for artificial intelligence. The first
two people judging didn't have a clue what he
was talking about. The third was a software
engineer and the question she kept asking was,
'Did you get any help with this?'
"And he sure didn't get it from me."
Top 100 Songs: webmusic
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